Since the market introduction of All-In-One (AIO) printers, businesses equipped with these new, innovative printers have become faster and simpler. But for the ordinary consumer, it has become such a big problem to buy such printers. Even though the AIO is of the latest technology, the price tag on such machines places them beyond the reach of most consumers.
It’s a good thing that Canon, the world leader in printers and digital cameras, came up with an AIO printer that does the job you want it to do at a much lower cost.
The Canon Pixma MP130 is an All-In-One (AIO) printer that combines the features of a printer, scanner and copier in a single device. Though some may mistakenly say that it’s a “cheap” desktop printer, it actually creates decent photos and produces great text prints at a faster rate than its competitors. Uniquely tailored for the small scale user, the Canon MP130 can be used without a computer to make photo prints or photocopies in grayscale or color using memory cards. What is immediately noticeable about the Canon MP130 is that it is a cost-effective, family-friendly printer that scans and copies on the side.
The oyster-gray, smooth, black-plastic finish of the Canon Pixma MP130 gives it a sporty look. The printer measures 433mm by 362mm by 186 mm (LWH) with the paper tray loaded. The control panel is small and uncluttered, with an unlit 32-character text LCD as the centerpiece. The MP130's sole paper source is a vertical sheet feeder in the back, able to hold 100 pages of plain paper or 10 sheets of glossy photo paper. A user can adjust the feeder to fit envelopes, or 4x6-inch, and 5x7-inch snapshots. A rickety, plastic, paper support and tray extender prevent legal and letter-size pages from flopping over.
The Canon Pixma MP130 can scan images of up to A4 size at 2,400x1,200 dpi. Even though the printer has no automatic document feeder (ADF), it can photocopy one page at a time. When changing empty ink tank cartridges (one black and one tricolor) the user just has to lift below the scanner bed, squeeze his hand inside, and open an inner cover. It may sound like an easy process, but it should be handled with outmost care, if you know what I mean.
The MP130 can print photos from CompactFlash, SmartMedia, Secure Digital, Memory Stick, MultiMediaCard, and Microdrive storage cards. The user must first print an index sheet to choose what photos to print-out. The good thing about the MP130 is that printing an index sheet is as simple as inserting your camera card and pressing the “Photo” and the “Photo Index Sheet” buttons. We waited for about 3 minutes for an index page to print. After that, we scrolled through the MP130's menu and printed the selected photos.
With its USB 2.0 port, the printer connects to Windows 98 SE and up, and Macs running OS 10.2.4 to 10.3x. The Canon Pixma MP130 includes in its software package the editing, enhancing, and effects tools of ArcSoft Photo Studio 5.5 for photos. It also has the ability to turn scans into text files with ScanSoft OmniPage SE 2.0.
The Pros
-Prints great text and good quality photos
-Compact design
-Digital camera card slots
-Helpful software
-Low price
The Cons
-No colour LCD or PictBridge port to preview photos
-No fax engine
-Poor color scanning
-Small ink tanks
-So-so grayscale scanning
Our verdict
-The Canon Pixma MP130 is a low-cost, personal all-in-one device with good printing capability and above average scan quality.
